ARPA-E, a Department of Energy research agency focused in funding projects that improve and regulate energy emissions and deploy advance energy technologies, will be working on forming research programs in areas with a great innovation potential in the energy marketplace.

Eric Toone, Principal Deputy Director of ARPA-E, recently explained the ideas for those programs, some are:

Fast charging for electric vehicles: Charging stations that can charge electric car’s batteries to about 50 percent charge in a half an hour.

Smart and autonomous sensing:Smart dustor small robots that look like small insects that travel through buildings, inspect systems, and report information to optimize energy use.

According to a recent study, the number of German companies specialized in clean-tech, such as resource efficiency, sustainable transport and recycling will double by 2025.

The study was made by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, the largest consulting market in the world, and it also indicates that about 1 million jobs can be created. The volume of German companies in those areas will rise 125 percent to 674 billion euros.

The country has a target to raise energy efficiency and lower greenhouse-gas emissions 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. One of the biggest challenges is the rising competition from Asia, where investment in clean energy has increased very quickly.

Two successful energy conservation programs that had helped to reduce peak demand by 60 megawats and help about 5,000 low-income families in Virginia will finish in seven months, unless Dominion Virginia Power gets the permission from Virginia State Corporation Commission to expand them.

According to a report released by GTM Research, a Greentech Media company that provides critical market analysis, Solar panel installations in the United States grow double in the last quarter.

Projects built for utility owners or for selling power to utilities had a very successful growth. Developers built 477 MW of utility-scale projects during the second quarter and are building another 3,400 MW. The report also noted that prices for third-party owned solar panel systems in California fell below prices for direct purchases for the first time.

On the other side, the solar manufacturing sector continues to struggle. More solar panel makers filed for bankruptcy during the second quarter.